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New App Urges Travelers to Complain to Lawmakers About Their Travel Hassles

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by Loren G. Edelstein |
July 01, 2014

In a conference call today, Building America's Future (a bipartisan coalition of elected officials; BAFuture.org) and the U.S. Travel Association drew attention to the "I'm Stuck" app, which makes it easy for travelers to alert their elected officials whenever they experience travel delays and frustrations during any mode of travel. The app's aim is to encourage travelers to complain to policymakers about America's aging transportation infrastructure and to spur action to replenish the Highway Trust Fund, the nation's main source of funding for roads, bridges and highways, which will be bankrupt in early August unless federal lawmakers agree on a funding solution.

"Our partnership couldn't have come at a more critical time," said Ed Rendell, former governor of Pennsylvania and co-chair of Building America's Future. "The Highway Trust Fund is running on fumes and Congress is running out of time. Our app gives the American people the ability to send a clear message directly to their member of Congress: Act now."

Policymakers "all recognize the need," said Rendell in a press conference today, " but they're afraid to spend money. I think this will have the effect of almost being a permission slip. People understand the situation, and they are willing to spend money to do something about it."

Building America's Future originally released the app in 2013; the partnership with U.S. Travel is intended to broaden awareness and encourage its use by millions of American travelers. Congress has received more than 15,000 emails so far from the app, and US Travel's partnership is expected to increase that number exponentially. Available for both iPhone and Android use, the app can be downloaded free at bafuture.org/imstuck.